CGA-style dithering: black, cyan, magenta and white with Bayer 8 × 8
Four colors that should not work together, and somehow do: black, electric cyan, hot magenta and white, the signature of CGA-style PC graphics from the 1980s. Because the palette has no reds, greens or skin tones, the preset leans on Bayer 8 × 8, the finest ordered matrix in the tool, to mix cyan and magenta pixels into believable purples and greys. Pixel size is 3 and Contrast is eased to 10 so the mixing has midtones to work with.
Make it yours
Make the pattern more visible
Bayer 8 × 8 is subtle at this size. Switch Algorithm to Bayer 2 × 2 for a coarse checkerboard that shouts retro, or raise Pixel size from 3 to 5 so the cyan and magenta cells are easy to see.
Commit to the two brights
This palette rewards strong shapes and punishes subtle color. Pick high-contrast sources and set Saturation to around 40, so colored areas land on cyan or magenta and do not dissolve into a grey mix.
FAQ
What colors are in the CGA-style palette?
Four: black, bright cyan, bright magenta and white. Everything else in your image is approximated by mixing those with an ordered dither, so a red jacket becomes magenta with black, and foliage turns into cyan and black. That harsh translation is the appeal. The palette is a stylistic reference to early PC graphics and is not tied to any vendor.
How it works
Upload an image
Add a PNG, JPG or WebP up to 20 MB and keep the original ratio or crop to 1:1, 4:5, 3:2, 16:9 or 9:16.
Choose a mode
ASCII with 8 character sets including Braille, Blocks, Binary, Matrix and your own characters; Dither with 14 algorithms; or Shapes with pixels, dots, lines and diamonds.
Style and use it
Set a palette such as 1-bit, Game Boy, Terminal or CGA, add scanlines, bloom or grain, then sign in with a free UX Pilot account to use it on the canvas or export it.